She is Lithuanian, and has lived in the UK since 2006, gaining her initial Iyengar yoga certification in 2013. Having worked full-time in the heritage sector for over 11 years, Sigute finally let go of her managerial role last year; now focusing on teaching yoga and doing some design and art work.

Sigute’s classes are attended by a variety of students, of different ages, and are as popular with men as with ladies. Her teaching style is friendly, supportive and encouraging. She aspires to help the students benefit from yoga and overcome physical limitations, pains or injuries, as well as gradually progress to more advanced poses in a safe manner. Although the focus is kept on correct performance of the yoga poses, alignment and balance, Sigute’s students also get a fair share of relaxation; an insight into the importance of breathing, practice of Pranayama and the more holistic approach to balance out the physical, mental and emotional layers.

New students, beginners as well as those who have got some yoga experience, are welcome to join Sigute’s class. Quite a few of her students practice other sports, be it cycling, swimming, running or rowing. Yoga helps them to balance out other activities, stretch out or relax the body in a way that counteracts any habits or over-strain from other exercise. Improved concentration, breathing and body awareness is also found to fuel back into students’ daily lives, bringing better energy and performance, as well as general well-being.

Becoming gluten, dairy, yeast and sugar-free has been a journey. Sometimes it has been uphill with a strong head wind in my face. Other times, I’ve been propelled forwards, the wind to my back.

It’s a personal journey, a unique journey, and I guess it has to be for each of us. Even now, there are times when I have to be careful, times when I know I could end up eating something that will make me feel unwell. There are times when I do. Luckily, fairly rare occasions. Nearly always when stress levels peak. My mindfulness practice has been a huge help.

Mindfulness has been shown to help cope with stress, leading to ‘a 58%reduction in anxiety levels and 40% reduction in stress’ according to the Mental Health Foundation.What the research figures don’t tell you is that being gluten-free or dairy-free or anything-free is all about kindness, self-compassion. The journey is essentially one of moving from self-harm to self-care. As our awareness grows, through our mindfulness practice, so too inevitably does our ability to be kind to ourselves, to our bodies.

A breakthrough came for me when I realised it wasn’t about depriving myself of anything but rather nourishing and nurturing myself with all sorts of delicious, healthy alternatives. If we feel at all deprived, the journey is simply an uphill struggle and we won’t achieve what we’re hoping to.

For every food I needed to cut out, in time I’ve worked out wonderful substitutes. From being someone who had never so much as baked a cake, I’ve gone to being known amongst friends for my various tasty breads, cakes and puddings, all totally gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast-free.

But it’s not about the recipes. It’s about bringing our awareness to the journey, to the kinds of situations that might trigger us, where we might slip up. And bringing in self-compassion if we do. A shared supper where there will probably be all manner of puddings laden with sugar, dairy and/or gluten is the kind of situation where I take along something I caneat.

It’s about acknowledging, with that same compassion, that, as is the case for me, I’m dealing with an addiction. It takes the tiniest bit of sugar for me to be right back there, hooked and craving. It won’t surprise you to hear that mindfulness is being used increasingly to help those struggling with addiction. Of the two books I’ve written for the Sheldon Press Mindfulness Series, one is on addiction recovery.

So the journey continues and I’m delighted to have this opportunity to support you on yours, to share what I’ve learnt, how mindfulness and kindfulness help. May the journey to healthy eating for us all be one where, rather than battling against a head wind, a warm breeze gently caresses our skin.

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Cheltenham Holistic Health Centre

Kindfulness & Nutrition

A one-day mindfulness retreat

exploring our patterns around food

Sunday 21 October 2018

10-4.30pm

Are you coping with food sensitivities or allergies? Candida or diabetes? Do you need to avoid certain foods for health reasons but struggle to do so?

Join us for this one-day Kindfulness retreat. We’ll explore ways of self-nurturing, moving from a sense of denial to feeling nourished on every level.

An essential aspect of mindfulness is kindness and compassion, in this case compassion towards ourselves. As we grow in self-awareness and self-compassion, so we move more easily through our food challenges.

The day is suitable for mindfulness beginners as well as more experienced practitioners. For bookings, please contact Cheltenham Holistic Health Centre – £60 for the day; £50 for CHHC clients. Any queries do get in touch: catherine@catherine-g-lucas.com

Please bring on the day

a pillow and some sort of a throw, shawl or blanket as one of the mindfulness practices, the body scan, involves lying down.

something for a shared vegetarian lunch.

Catherine G Lucas has been teaching mindfulness since qualifying as a mindfulness trainer in 2007. She has taught many groups, including NHS therapists and soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Catherine is also the author of four books, her two most recent in the Sheldon Press Mindfulness Series.

On this one-day retreat she brings her personal experience of thriving on a diet that is gluten, dairy, sugar and yeast free.

“I couldn’t have achieved this without the self-awareness that my mindfulness practice brings. If I slip up occasionally, it’s kindness and compassion towards myself that gets me right back on track. For me, it’s about moving from self-harm to self-care, from foods that harm me to foods that nourish and nurture me.”

Lisa is returning to Cheltenham Holistic Health Centre from Cornwall having completed her research ‘Finding Solace’ that is due to be published later this year.

The research explores a mother’s response to the trauma, premature birth, intensive care and subsequent death of her baby at 5 weeks. Her paper gives a deep consideration of the less spoken about feelings of terror in grief and considers how this may be connected to unresolved trauma following hospital care and birth. She gives further consideration to the impact of earlier developmental trauma, the potential for trauma to be held through maternal lineage and intergenerational taboos that may hinder understanding and connection. Attention is also given to the bleak sense of alienation during grief.

Lisa highlights the normalcy of the ongoing process of connection with a baby who has died and challenges traditional grief theory’s notion of disconnect and ‘letting go’. She also understands how the nature of the powerful maternal bond in early infancy impacts upon the process of grief.

Lisa also makes sense of the familiar conflict of the personal responsibility for reaching out for support with the perceived limitations of our culture and society to respond with compassion to accommodate such a loss.

Lisa is also interested in the meaning of transitions into parenthood and the powerful body connection between partners through the creation of a baby. She understands how the loss of a baby may impact upon a relationship in many ways.

This new service aims to respond to the needs of those affected by the death of a baby by offering a welcoming space to take and hold the many challenging feelings in response to the life and death of a baby.

Lisa works with individuals, couples also facilitates small group work.

Lisa first established her private practice at the centre 10 years ago and has worked with individuals in private practice.

Her career began working with adolescents and but since being love struck with her first born baby boy, who was born prematurely at 27 weeks the transition into motherhood became the focus of her attention. She has since experienced two full term trauma free births and has brought up two wonderful daughters now aged 11 &12.

She has also worked within the perinatal psychiatric service in Worcestershire facilitating group work and offering psychotherapy to women experiencing anxiety and depression.

She has also worked in private practice at The Fold, Bransford, Worcestershire and in Far West Cornwall.

Lisa began her training at the Insitute for Arts in Therapy in Education in London where she developed a repertoire of creative approaches that she may use with individuals and small groups. This includes creative writing, poetry, sand tray, puppets, world figures, art. She gained a post graduate certificate in Arts in Therapy and Education.

She continue her training at Bath Centre of Counselling & Psychotherapy where she has recently been awarded an MA in Humanistic & Integrative Psychotherapy with adults.

Pregnancy and Baby Loss Clinic Launch Day

On Tuesday 29thMay Lisa will be offering 30 Minute Initial appointments with a minimal £15 fee.

This will allow a brief consultation and an opportunity to make an assessment and for potential clients to understand what is on offer and work out whether they wish to begin sessions.

Spring in Traditional Chinese Medicine is associated with the Wood Element (and its corresponding organs, Liver and Gall Bladder). It’s a time of energy, of rising yang and renewal. The earth is coming alive again after its winter slumber and so are we!

The principle of the Five Elements in Eastern Philosophy describes the flow of Qi (energy) through these different stages, with each element having a corresponding season, time of the year and governing internal organ. A practitioner in Chinese Medicine will use these principles to identify imbalances within this flow and use techniques such as acupuncture, herbs or recommended lifestyle changes to treat health problems.

Adapting your lifestyle with the season can have a really positive affect on your overall health, energy levels and immune system.

Here are a few changes you can make in Spring:

Eat your greens. Green is the colour associated with the Wood element in Chinese Medicine and thinking of the natural world, it’s easy to see why. Adding fresh, young greens to your diet at this time of year is a great way to support, and cleanse, your system.

Stretch! The ligaments and tendons of the body are also indicated by the wood (liver) element. Now’s a good time to gently waken them up, try adding a morning yoga session to your daily schedule

Try an acupuncture session. Even a quarterly (seasonal) session, to balance your system can keep you in tip-top condition and help your body adjust to the rush of spring energy.

“In a 2011 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, mice fed probiotics had significantly lower levels of the stress hormone corticosterone than mice fed plain broth. The bacteria fed mice also exhibited much less behaviour linked with stress anxiety and depression than mice fed plain broth. What’s also interesting is that both animal and human studies have shown that certain probiotics can alleviate anxiety by rebalancing the microbiome.” Dr David Perlmutter “Brain Maker.”

We are finally entering a new age where medical science embraces the pivotal importance of a healthy gut. The enormous benefits of a healthy diet combined with a gut flora prolific in good bacteria is being recognised by the mainstream medical profession as being essential for our vitality and well being mentally and physically. The relationship between our gut/brain health as well as every other organ and system in the body is being scientifically proven. No longer are anti biotics the panacea for all our ills this is the age of natural healing.

Many of us suffer from debilitating and long term ailments including; constipation, diarrhoea, liver complaints, halitosis, flatulence, IBS, SIBO, candida, skin problems; acne, eczma, psoriasis, bloating asthma, allergies, depression, anxiety, lethargy, to name a few. A lot of these problems may have been caused or exacerbated by the food we eat, exposure to pollutants and long term use of medication such as anti biotics. The restoration of a healthy gut can be vastly improved by taking three simple steps;

Colon Hydrotherapy and Deep Intestinal Cleanses are the quickest way to help old toxic bacteria, parasites and yeast organisms to leave the system. Then we can begin to benefit from the positive changes we hopefully have made to our diet. Otherwise we are just putting in good on top of bad. We can also benefit enormously from High Potency Good Bacteria Infusions direct into the descending colon which I administer at CHHC. This includes; 70 billion viable cells of bifido bacterium bifidum, bifido bacterium longum, lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus casei, lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus rhamnosus, lactobacillus brevis, lactobacillus salivarius streptococcus thermophilus in a base of organic Kefir (optional). These support mineral absorption and the production of B vitamins and Vitamin K they also help improve immune function and metabolism as well as the breakdown of toxins and optimise bowel transit time and the digestion of proteins and carbohydrates

New Treatment: To help facilitate the application of High Strength Probiotics direct into the large intestine, from March 2018, I will be offering a new treatment. This includes a short Colon Hydrotherapy session of 10-15 minutes, suitable for those who have had a course of colonics in the past, followed by a probiotic infusion. This hopefully will make it possible for more people to benefit from the wide ranging positive effects of a gut brimming with healthy good bacteria.

Katie’s hugely popular Restorative Yoga classes continue on a monthly basis. Restorative yoga is a deeply relaxing style of yoga. Each asana is held anywhere from 2-10 minutes, depending on the pose and the student. During this time you will be supported by blankets, bolsters or/and blocks. The asanas are based on those found in a regular yoga class and most postures will be floor based. The physical part of the class will be followed by a yoga nidra meditation. These classes will be 90 minutes.

In addition, Katie has added a new series of classes, Restorative Yoga +. Building from Katie’s recent training in self-myofascial release, these workshops will include all the elements of the restorative yoga workshops, plus an insight and experience of self-myofascial release to release long held tension within the muscle and fascia systems. These classes will be 120 minutes.

Last September, my wife and I took the car ferry to Santander in Northern Spain and drove home over the Pyrenees and up through France. En route, we had arranged to stay with some old friends in Southern France for a few days and knowing that Dick had been suffering from fibromyalgia I remembered to pack a box of 200 needles…more.
On the first morning as we were about to leave our Hotel in Pamplona, my wife twisted as she bent to pick up her case and screamed in pain. She had prolapsed a disc in her lower back and couldn’t move. I managed to support her to the car and make her comfortable and we set off over the mountains to our Friends house. By the time we got there she was pale and exhausted from the journey and very immobile.
Fortunately in our bedroom there was a sturdy table exactly the right height and dimensions to make an impromptu treatment couch so I was fully equipped to start a program of treatment. I treated her twice a day for the next 4 days and the results were spectacular. By the fourth day she was walking normally, able to get up from sitting without assistance and sleeping comfortably. She had made the sort of progress normally achieved in a month with acupuncture once or twice a week.
I continued on our return home to treat her each day for the next 10 days and she continued to make excellent progress until she “forgot’ about it and re-injured the disc moving heavy boxes around in the attic! Luckily it was not a severe aggravation and we were back on target within 24 hours.
It is a rare opportunity to be able to give very frequent treatments for acute pain conditions.
Because of the cost and time constraints it is far more usual for patients to opt for 1 or 2 sessions per week. This has therefore become the normal recommendation.
My experience of treating my wife has made me re-think this protocol. Much more frequent treatment allows much more speedy and complete recovery. I will be recommending this to patients in the future.